Popeye fans were overjoyed when they learned of a new animated movie featuring their favorite sailor man. The movie was announced in 2010, with Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky at the helm, and a 2015 release date was given.

The fictional cartoon character, famous for his super-strength after eating spinach (probably a ploy to get children to eat their greens), originally debuted in a 1929 comic strip. He later moved to theaters when Max Fleischer adapted the comic stories for a series of animated shorts in 1933, and in the years since, Popeye has featured in comic books, video games, and advertisements. He was also the subject of his very own movie in 1980 when much-missed actor Robin Williams took on the role. As movie buffs will know, however, this was not one of the actor's best movies, despite his best efforts in the part.

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Despite the failure of the earlier movie, anticipation was high for Popeye's next adventure on the big screen. Due to its nostalgic appeal, it was expected to be one of those animated movies that adults could enjoy, and fans were even given a sneak peek of the animated footage that Tartakovsky had directed as proof of concept for Sony Pictures Animation.

All seemed well aboard the good ship Spinacher (the name of Popeye's boat), but then the unthinkable happened. In 2015, the movie was seemingly canceled and it disappeared without a trace from Sony's release slate. Not even a can of spinach could rescue Popeye this time it seemed!

Who Pushed Popeye Overboard?

Movie Image
Via: ComicLegion

At a time when nearly every cartoon character is getting their own movie, Popeye's apparent cancelation did seem quite surprising. Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Tom and Jerry are just a few of those characters from yesteryear that have made the transition to the big screen. So, why not Popeye?

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The director of the proposed movie announced the 'cancelation' himself, and when discussing the reason why, he had this to say.

"Popeye, at least, we put up a great screening, everybody really liked that sizzle, we got a positive reaction. I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don’t know if they want to make the Popeye that I want to make. So they’ve got to make a decision…It was hard to let Popeye go, but that’s the business."

The changes he alluded to related to the removal of Bob Osher as Sony Pictures Digital Productions president and the hiring of Kristine Belson to take his place.

While creative differences with the new leadership were cited as the primary reason for Popeye's apparent demise, Tartakovsky attributed some of the blame to the infamous Sony hacking scandal of 2014. The studio was hacked by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace, and this was in response to the controversy-baiting movie The Interview, the Seth Rogen comedy about two Americans planning to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The hacking group wanted the movie to be pulled from release, and while it never was, it still caused the studio to lose focus on its other projects, including Popeye. As quoted at Den of Geek, Tartakovsky  said:

"We had a proof of concept, we had an amazing story reel all done that everybody loved. The whole studio was excited and the marketing was gearing up, but then the hack happened. The executives were dealing with so much and all this ugliness came out it was just the wrong place and wrong time. "

On the perceived creative differences, he also said:

"I don’t even know if they wanted the real Popeye because that’s what we wanted to do. We didn’t want to re-imagine him with sunglasses and a backwards hat."

So, was it really the end for Popeye? It certainly seemed like it. Tartakovsky announced his intention to work on another project, Can You Imagine? (although this never came to fruition either) and the Popeye movie joined the ranks of other Sony animated movies stuck in development limbo, including Neanderthals, from Iron Man director Jon Favreau.

Rather than pushing ahead with the sailor man's next cinematic excursion, the studio focused on brand new projects instead. Unfortunately, the next movies on their slate were the lamentable Smurfs: the Lost Village and The Emoji Movie, two products that were hardly worth sinking Popeye for.

Still, you can't keep a good sailor down. Somebody has clearly been eating their spinach because it's not all bad news for the classic animated character.

RELATED: Why The Upcoming 'Tom And Jerry' Movie Will Probably Be Awful

Popeye's Demise Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Popeye
Via: CinemaBlend

Despite rumors to the contrary, the movie was never really canceled.

According to the Wiki page, Popeye was still considered to be 'in active development,' at Sony, so nobody had really pulled the plug on the picture. Yes, Popeye's voyage to the big screen may have been delayed (and shunted aside by those execrable emojis), but the cancelation had never been officially announced by Sony. And here's the good news: It seems the project is now back on course!

King Features, a small animation studio best known for creating projects based around classic cartoons, are now in charge of bringing Popeye back to the big screen. This isn't the first time they have had dalliances with the pipe-smoking sailor. To celebrate the character's 90th anniversary in 2018, they released a series of 2D animated shorts entitled Popeye's Island Adventures, on YouTube.

The movie is set for release in 2022, but whether or not it has ties to the animated footage that Tartakosky shot back in 2014 still remains to be seen. Expect more news on Popeye's big-screen adventure very soon.

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